Can anyone say what Eliot might mean in East Coker by "electric heat"?  

"And the deep lane insists on the direction / Into the village, in the electric heat / Hypnotised."

Maybe it has to do with the etymology of the word?

Also, a question for those who are better acquainted with the mother tongue, is "deep lane" Eliot's original image, or is he using a common term for a road? 


Timothy Materer
English Department
Univ. of Missouri